It’s time boys learn the F-word

Submitted by anthony on Sat, 2011-11-19 17:43

Article here. Excerpt:

'Her story, an all too common one, illustrated for me why feminism still has some fights to take on – and why boys her age need to hear its perspective. It’s the kind of experience that prompted a new book, The Guy’s Guide to Feminism, which landed on my desk recently. Co-authored by Canadian social justice educator Michael Kaufman and New York-based sociologist Michael Kimmel, the book takes the form of a lighthearted A to Z bathroom companion – the personal is political, after all – and thus strikes a tone that I think boys just might listen to.

With homophobic cyberbullying causing suicides, rape joke pages on Facebook, and pornography widely accessible to impressionable minds, it’s more important than ever to start a discussion with teens – the girls as well as the guys – about gender stereotypes and expectations.

Internet pornography, one of teen boys’ greatest preoccupations, is naturally one of the issues addressed – in a pro-sex, playfully ironic manner. When I asked my niece whether she thinks porn puts negative pressure on her, she confirmed – and then inspirationally combatted – our collective fear that girls feel they have to mimic the videos that boys watch. One guy she dated at 16 did indeed pressure her. “He asked me, ‘Why aren’t you screaming?’ And I told him, ‘Because I’m not acting!’ That’s what a lot of it is. It’s fake.”'

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Comments

What he is basically getting at is that there are ways to behave that are good and bad for self and others and gee, maybe you should put some thought into that when deciding how to live life-- though I think perhaps it's the parents' responsibility more than anything to be deciding these things, but in the absence of any actual parental guidance for some kids, I suppose someone else steps in. But if it's these people, what will they be peddling? Feminism along with lessons on how to be polite yet even on the Internet and avoid porno-shock?

Feminism was never necessary before the current era to teach such lessons and I don't see how it is now. Sounds like more pandering and self-loathing from men who actually believe that the world's sins rest exclusively on the shoulders of males while women and girls just can't ever do anything wrong...

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Submitted by Matt on Sat, 2011-11-19 23:50

Men have expectations about women and women have expectations about men.

It's the way things have been for millions of years. It's not inherently unfair to women.

As for the f-word, it's definitely a four-letter word. Anyone teaching boys to be feminists should be convicted of child abuse.

And one more thing: a lot is made of homophobic comments leading to suicide. That is problem. But a lot of straight men kill themselves and the feminists always ignore the issue. In fact, most people ignore the issue. I applaud those who want to address the suicides of gay men--but let's not forget the straight men.

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Submitted by el cid on Mon, 2011-11-21 01:45

This book is feminist trash... it's a Trojan Horse made to look like helpful advice to young men. It indoctrinates men in the ways of feminism. For more about Michel Kimmel, one of the authors, see this post at A Voice For Men:

http://www.avoiceformen.com/misandry/sycophants/a-profile-of-michael-kimmel-2/

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Submitted by redwoodwriter on Tue, 2011-11-22 01:42

Anything written by Kimmel should probably be picked up with a pair of tongs. I posted this just so people could be aware of it.

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Submitted by Matt on Tue, 2011-11-22 01:53

Kimmil claims to be an expert on men's rights, but he's nothing but a self-loathing feminist hack. He couldn't name a men's rights issue if he was slapped with a child support order on a paternity default he'd never heard of, then was accused of raping the mother he had never met.

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Submitted by Kratch on Tue, 2011-11-22 04:47